If you are Blogging as part of your internet marketing strategy, you know it can take a bit of time and effort to do. Here are some tips to make it easier and more effective as well.
Post In Advance
If you’re worried that you don’t have time to keep up with a blog, get ahead of the game. The more often you post, the more often search engines will come to visit you so consider posting in advance so you can be sure to have regular postings. Most blog posting applications have a post-dating feature.
You may not want to post too far in advance, depending on your topic. While you are ok to post evergreen topics far in advance, you might need to jump in and post a ‘now’ post for a hot topic. Hot topics can get you noticed and help your posts go viral so it’s a good idea to slip current posts in as well.
More About Blog Scheduling
A lot of pro bloggers set up a day a week to write the week’s post. This gives them more time on a daily basis to dedicate to promoting their blog and to spend responding to comments.
Set Up Blog Categories
Choosing blog categories in advance for your blog and then rotating which categories you write about will enable you to keep your blog well-rounded. I t will help you organise ideas and this is also a great way to remind yourself to write about particular topics. You could set up a rotating schedule for topics, for instance.
Upgrade Your Blog Software
If you’re using WordPress and haven’t updated your WordPress version since you installed your blog three years ago, you’re not getting the benefits of the later versions which have many more bells and whistles that make Blogging easier and more effective.
Set Up Alerts And Go Looking For Topics
Yahoo and Google Alerts can be sent to your inbox to get blog writing ideas for when you’re planning to sit down and put several posts together. You can also look through Google blog search based on your targeted niche keywords to come up with ideas as well as find blogs to visit, link to, and comment on.
Photos
Grab photos in batches and save them to a folder on your computer. That way, when you’re sitting down to write a week’s worth of blog posts, you have a pool of photos to use. Looking through stock photo sites can also inspire new blog post topics as well!
Firefox Extensions
If you use the Firefox browser, there are quite a few Firefox extensions that can be added to your browser window that can make blogging easier.
Examples could include social bookmarking bookmarklets, spellcheck tools, and other tools that help you not only format your blog but get traffic to it as well. Zemanta, for instance, is a tool that suggests tags to use.
Formatting
Windows Live Writer is a great formatting tool that works with most blogging platforms. You can connect to multiple blogs so that you can easily format a blog in a user-friendly window. It makes adding images and videos a breeze and can be installed on your desktop.
AddThis
AddThis is a great tool that lets you add bookmarking icons to the bottom of your blog posts so that readers can quickly and easily bookmark your post on a service of their choice.
While you might think a particular post is bookmark worthy, having their favourite icon right there will increase the likelihood that they actually WILL bookmark and bring you more online traffic.
Get the party started by “Digging” your posts first. If someone just has to hit a “thumbs up” rather than go through the multi-step process of submitting a link to Digg, they’re more likely to do it.
These are just a few of the things you can do to make Blogging, which is very effective in the world of internet marketing, an easier task for you. What are your blog short cuts or productivity tips? I’d love to hear them!
Have a most outstanding day.
Sean RasmussenAussie Internet Marketing
www.SeanSEO.com © 2008 - 2010
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Sean,
What a great post, full of so many tips for improving your blogging I am off to make sure I have done all the right things.
Thank You
Great tip about Goggle Alerts. I haven’t used it up until now.
With Digg I thought you weren’t able to submit your own posts? Or is that just voting on it?
Fantastic tips, Sean.
They make regular blog posting so much easier to achieve.
I think you are correct Gee, As a rule Digg does not like you to submit your own post.
Hello Sean,
I never thought to set a day aside to right all my blogs for one week in advance. How do you do that when I write from day to day experiences? Will have to give that one a thought. I do try to save time by sticking to the same layout of my blog so that when I write it I do not take too much time to write a blog. I am working in and around my family so any short cuts that I can take on board is appreciated.
Cheers
Lisa
Scheduling posts in advance will not work for everyone Lisa. If you are a day to day writer, there is nothing wrong with continuing to do so.
Hi Lisa
You can get voice recorders these days with USB memory. It may be something worth looking at as you can talk and do your other tasks at the same time (and you won’t forget anything either).
When you sit down to blog, all your information is there for you.
Hello Elly,
Oh I so like that idea…..will get hubby onto getting me one!!! I love being able to other tasks while thinking about my blog post – saying what I want to write about as I work, that is gold
Like you said, I won’t forget about what I want to write about! Thank you for the great idea Elly, really appreciate it.
Cheers
Lisa
I am taking my own advice on board too. I am wondering how people will feel about me talking to myself in public places (lol)
Hi Sean,
Great tips. When you’re talking about updating your Wordpress version, what happens if you’re using plug-ins that may not be compatible with that version?
I have not had too many problems with plugins after upgrading Jazz. If this does happen, it is usually rectified by Wordpress fairly quickly.
Hi Sean
Any suggestions for making blogging easier are always welcome.
I plan one day a week for writing content now. I carry a notebook around with me and write any ideas I have in there.
I suggested to Lisa (see comment above) to get a small voice recorder as it is very easy to get distracted when you have young children around (they are a lovely distraction though!).
This article is another of those valuable gems Sean so I have book marked it to refer to as I am working on my blog. Thank you for all of this information overload (lol). I can handle it!